Taylor Frankie Paul will reportedly return to film The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives in a limited capacity amid her legal issues.
A source has confirmed to Us Weekly that Taylor, 32, will shoot her scenes for season 5’s opening montage in the next few days but is not expected to film anything else for the time being. According to the insider, Taylor will film her montage scenes separately from the rest of the cast. (People and TMZ first to reported the news.)
Us has reached out to Hulu and Taylor’s representative for comment.
Production on the fifth season of Mormon Wives was suspended in March when Taylor and her ex Dakota Mortensen were involved in a domestic violence investigation. Both publicly denied the allegations of domestic violence made by the other. (Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette was pulled from ABC’s schedule due to the criminal investigation.)
Prosecutors ultimately declined to file criminal charges against either party, though Dakota was awarded temporary custody of their son, Ever, 2. Taylor was later granted supervised visits with Ever for eight hours per week.
A Utah judge issued mutual protective orders for both Dakota and Taylor in April, ordering them to stay 100 feet away from each other for three years.
Earlier this month, Us confirmed that Taylor voluntarily spent time in rehab for a short stay that has since concluded. Her ex-husband, Tate Paul, subsequently filed for an emergency change in their custody agreement for daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 6, claiming that he was not told Taylor was entering rehab. (Tate’s request was denied.)
A court accepted Taylor’s offer to take a sobriety test, specifying that she could resume unsupervised visits with her two older children provided she passes. In a separate hearing, a judge ruled on Wednesday, July 8, that Taylor can have more unsupervised time with her and Dakota’s son, Ever.
Amid the litany of legal issues, Taylor’s Mormon Wives costars filmed a new video that appeared on Whitney Leavitt’s Instagram account on Wednesday, where they joked about the fate of MomTok as filming wrapped on season 5.
In the clip, the cast danced over a message that read, “We’re surviving.”
The video seemingly ruffled Taylor’s feathers, as she later changed her Instagram bio to read: “Creator of Momtok + SLOMW. The Bachelorette. Jesus is king.”
“Got a whole team going at me during my lowest. Keep aiming I guess… your shots are terrible,” Taylor also wrote via Instagram.
Taylor’s friend and costar Jessi Draper — who appeared in Whitney’s video — clapped back at fans speculating that MomTok was mocking Taylor’s legal trouble.
“I still support Taylor,” Jessi said in an Instagram video on Wednesday. “She knows that. I talk to her every single day. Still friends with her. Still love her. I also still have some friendships in MomTok and we also film a show together and work together and we have to be together and we have to make videos together, it’s part of our job. But also, it’s a good thing that the group is able to get along and make videos right now.”
Meanwhile, Mormon Wives producer Jeff Jenkins expressed hopes in May that Taylor would be back filming new scenes for the show before long. (A source previously told Us Taylor wanted to return to the reality show “at some point” but was “focused on her mental health.”)
“[Taylor is] just made for this,” Jenkins, 58, told Variety in May. “To share her life on camera, she does it like breathing air. She doesn’t edit herself. She’s really built for this type of lane. So I’m very hopeful that she’ll be back very soon, and I’m hopeful we can do all sorts of other projects with her as well.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives airs on Hulu.
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
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